karima.org.uk - Karima al-Marwaziyya Foundation

The Wycombe Youth Forum (WYF) was set up to give the young people of High Wycombe a voice as well as provide them with an opportunity to discuss the challenges facing young Muslims in Britain today. The direction of the forum is set and led by the young people so discussions can be centred around local, national and international issues.

The current group seem to have a strong political interest. Because of this, the Youth Forum recently had a unique opportunity to have an intimate 'Question and Answer' session with local MP Paul Goodman. Paul Goodman recently made two addresses to the House of Commons regarding Muslims in Britain, in which he asked how representative organisations such as The Mulsim Council of Britain (MCB) were of young Muslims.

Mr Goodman admitted at the WYF Q&A that this was the first time he had sat and spoken with a group of young Muslims.

The young people had many questions for their MP and seemed to enjoy the experience immensely.

Future plans for the WYF include a trip to the House of Commons in mid-Septmeber

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Testimonies

I personaly felt that the meeting with Paul Goodman was very benificial. I was very impressed with the turnout and how organised the debates and the discussions were. He answered our questions but not all the time which i was not too pleased about (he is is a politician).
Islam within the UK has alot of stigma attached to it and i felt that it was important that politians hear the voice of the younger generation rather than that of the older generation; hopefully we gave a good impression and inshAllah the youth action initiative continues.

I'd just like 2 add that it also gave me the opportunity 2 hear other youngsters opinions so it didn't just give Paul Goodman a chance 2 hear what the muslim youth had 2 say but allowed us 2 hear each others voice on matters we probably don't always discuss as much.

The meeting with MP Paul Goodman was something new for ourselves and the MP himself; as it was the first time he had discussed issues with muslim youth and we also got to listen to each other's opinions on different issues. Interesting questions were raised and I was impressed by his knowledge of Islam!.